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Monday, May 15, 2006

If you are a business looking to hire a computer consulting firm, there are many preliminary questions to ask candidates to make sure the fit is good. The following questions, provided by Computer Consulting 101 are even more in-depth and will give you a good idea of the very specific practices of any firm you’d like to hire.

1. Does your company resell tech products, including hardware and software? Are you a profit center, or can we shop for products outside of your firm? Can we still use your analysis and procurement services even if we buy outside hardware and software?2. Do you work closely with any ISPs or phone companies, and do you accept commissions or referral fees for directing computer consulting clients towards specific vendors?3. Describe your payment terms. What are your hourly rates and billing minimums, and what is billable and not billable?4. Is travel time, telephone support, e-mail/online support and remote support included in your fees?5. Do you have stipulations for after-hours or emergency services? What do you consider after-hours and emergency?6. Do you offer support contracts? Describe the costs and benefits, if yes. 7. Tell me about one of your long-term small business clients. 8. Tell me about one of your more recent clients, and also about a small business client that did not work out. 9. Do you have references?10. How do you stay on top of new technologies?11. What are the clients of your computer consulting firm billed for and what do you absorb initially? Are any of your terms not black and white?12. Do you feel comfortable handling in-depth user training?13. What kind of user and tech training do you offer?14. Will you train our computer administrator to work more independently even if it takes away from job security of an opportunity for more billable hours?